Berkeley Heights, NJ

Berkeley Heights Rescue and Rebirth

The Berkeley Heights area near Summit, New Jersey had a problem. A community pool built in 1964 was deteriorating, leaving area residents with limited public access to recreational facilities. The nearby Summit YMCA assumed management of it in 2016, successfully convincing local officials that the Y should enter a 50-year lease that allowed building a full-service YMCA to expand the offering.

Opened in 2020, what’s now the Berkeley Heights YMCA is a new 40,000-square-foot community hub, with a full complement of exercise and sports facilities (including the heated outdoor lap pool), plus a spacious early education childcare center, after-school child care, a teen center, and a Kid Zone.

The modern design is as inviting as it is functional, replete with best-in-class finishes and furnishings, plenty of large windows that bring in the sunshine, and ADA accessible features that truly welcome the entire community for fitness, play, socialization, childhood development, and continuing education.